Hi! My name is Elaina Burghardt and I am a junior at the University of Pittsburgh studying Marketing and Business Analytics. I am originally from Rochester, NY, but am currently living in Denver, CO. Since I was surrounded by business careers growing up, my dad owning his own business and my mom working in HR at a marketing firm, I knew since I was young that I would want to pursue a career in business.
Previously, I worked as an intern for a digital marketing agency, where I was able to gain hands-on marketing skills. I was given the opportunity to learn many different aspects of digital marketing from content creation to email marketing to market research. This experience gave me a great foundation from which I have been able to grow upon, and I look forward to working at PNC this summer as a product innovation intern.
Outside of school I love to spend time with friends, reading, and baking. I also really enjoy traveling and experiencing new places, which is why I chose to pursue a semester abroad. I chose Pitt’s GBI Florence program because I believed it would be the program where I could gain the most academically and culturally. Academically, I am taking classes here that will help me progress further on my academic journey, as well as offering new perspectives to my field of study. Culturally, Florence provides a culture so different from the US, that it really pushes me to experience something completely new and foreign to me, and helps me grow while navigating it all. While I am here, I want to push myself to immerse myself into Florentine culture as much as possible, and gain every new perspective I can. I want to use this opportunity to grow as much as I can, both personally and academically.
So far, I am really enjoying the classes at my new institution. Both institutions have professors who are very passionate about the topics they’re teaching, and give a lot of support to students. Additionally, the syllabus and structure of the courses are very similar to that at Pitt, and I was not sure if that would be the case here. As for differences, I would say the timing of classes is slightly different than what I usually experience at Pitt. For example, I have a class here that starts at 10:40 which would not be typical to have at Pitt. It is also an adjustment being in such small class sizes here. At school, my classes are anywhere from 25-75 people while here, my biggest class is maybe 15 people. I think this is nice, since you get to know the professor and other students more, but it is definitely an adjustment.
As for my neighborhood, so far I am loving it! We have already found some of our favorite places, just steps from our house. First, we found a restaurant right across the street that has delicious pizza and sandwiches for only around 5 euro. We also have a cafe right next door that has really delicious pastries and good coffee as well. My new favorite pastry I have tried here is a croissant with jam inside. It’s delicious! Finally, the best place we have found and frequented is Riva Reno gelato. I think my roommates and I go here at least 3-4 times a week. I usually get the chocolate and raspberry combination and it is some of the best gelato I have ever had.
We have also gotten very lucky with our apartment. It is a very cozy apartment which I share with 6 other girls. I was lucky enough to get the single room in the apartment, but all of the rooms are very homey and comfortable. So far, I have really enjoyed our apartment and really love our living arrangements. There are definitely small things though that have been an adjustment. For one, having to share 2 mini fridges with 7 girls, but that is a small price to pay for our kitchen that is so cute and homey. Additionally, only having a small washer and no dryer was something I definitely had to get used to and was nervous about, but it has been better than expected.
Overall, while a big adjustment, I have been loving my time in Florence. It is a beautiful city even though I have just scratched the surface of exploring it, I know I am going to love my time here.
